Watercraft with pivoted flappers



Aug. 29, 1950 o. A. HOLLAR 2,520,304

WATERCRAFT WITH PIVOTED FLAPPERS Filed Dec. 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Fig. l.

Oliver A Hal/0r INVENTOR.

0. A. HOLLAR WATERCRAFT WITH PIVOTED FLAPPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledDec. 24, 1947 Oliver A. Hal/0r I INVENTOR.

BY mlywyvm Patented Aug. 29,1950 .4

. N TED TATES PATENT LOFFICEA A g 2,520,8041], a WATERCRAFT WITHVPIVOTED FLAPPERS v Oliver A.' Hollar., Hanfo -d, Calif. "Al l l tea er24,weasel-a1ivmeaceoj f The present invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in water craft for supporting a singleperson and moreparticularly to means for propelling the-water craft by a rockingmovement thereof.

An important object of the invention is to provide a readily rockablewater craft having pivoted paddles r flappers at each side thereofarranged to cause a forward propelling movement of the water craft whenthe same is rocked from side to side by the occupant.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water craft forsupporting a person in a standing position thereon to effectively causea propelling movement thereof and to also provide means for steering thewater craft.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character ofsimple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable inoperation,

relatively inexpensive to manufacture and other sectional view of thesteering post taken substantially on the line 5 of Figure 3, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of one of the flappersupports taken substantially on the line 66 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the. drawings in detail wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the inventionthe numeral 5 designates the central main pontoon or float for the boator water craft on which is supported front and rear upright frames 6 and1 extending outwardly at opposite sides of the central pontoon andhaving a platform 8 supported on the top of the frames.

The sides of the frames 6 and I are provided with brackets 9 on whichrelatively small balancing pontoons or outriggers ID are supported, thebalancing pontoons being positioned outwardly at each side of thecentral pontoon 5 and parallel thereto. The axis of the pontoons 5 andID are coplanar to normally support the platform 8 in 1 Claim. (01.115 1) a horizontal position above the surface'of the water.'

A plate H is secured in an upright position at thelower side edges of-the front and rear frames 6 and 1 and from which a pin l2 projects'outwardly in a slightly downwardly'inclined position. A substantiallyflat hollow flapper l3 of substantially air-foil construction isprovided with a bearing or bushing I4 extending transversely thereof andpivotally supported on the pin l2. The flapper is secured in position onthe pin by a nut l5 threaded on the outer end thereof to provide avertical swinging movement of the flapper. The flapper is pivotedslightly forwardly of its center to provide a relatively longer trailingedge l6.

Upper and lower stop pins l1 and I8 project outwardly from the plate Hbetween which the trailing edge I6 of the flapper is verticallyswingable, the stops limiting the upward and downward swinging movementof the flapper. A hollow steering post I9 is suitably supported in anupright position at a front edg of the platform 8 and in which asteering shaft 20 is rotatably supported with a handle 2| at its upperend and oppositely extending arms 22 at its lower end and to which thefront ends of cords or steering cables 23 are attached. The rear ends ofthe cables are attached to steering arms 24 extend-- ing oppositely atthe upper end of a rudder post 25 journalled in a supporting bracket 26extending rearwardly from the central pontoon 5. The rudder post 25carries a rudder 21.

In the operation of the device a person is supported in a standingposition on the platform 8 to impart a rocking movement to the boatwhereby to raise and lower the flappers [3 in v the water. The flappersbeing pivoted forwardly of their centers and the pivotal movement of theflappers being limited by the upper and lower stops I! and I8 willresult in relatively short strokes of the flappers to change from anupwardly to a downwardly inclined position by an opposite tiltingmovement of the platform. The initial upward or downward movement of oneside of the platform will quickly swing the rear end of the flappers atthat side upwardly or downwardly into an inclined position and are heldin that position by the stops, and the continued movement of that sideof the platform in the same direction will maintain the flappers in theinclined position, such as shown in Figure 4, and will tend to force thewater under the flappers rearwardly and thus move the device forwardly.This action will occur when the flappers are inclined upwardly as wellas downwardly.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction withtheraccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding ofthe device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is-to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferredembodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim; 1

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A water craft comprising a main central pontoon, a frame supportedthereon, a platform-supported on the frame, outrigger pontoons at'e'achside of the central pontoon and carried'by the frame, said frameincluding a lower frame structure positioned outwardly at opposite sidesof the central pontoon and below the center thereof to support saidlower frame structure submerged, horizontal pins projecting outwardly ateach side Ofthe lower frame structure, rigid flappers of airfoilconstruction rockably supported forwardly of their centers on said pinsfor vertical swinging movement of the trailing edges of the flappers topropel the water craft by rocking movement of the platform, and stoppins carried by the lower frame structure above and below the trailingedges of the fiappers to limit swinging movement thereof.

OLIVER A. HOLLAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 22,097 Vrooman 1 Nov. 16, 1858603,469 Kautz May 3, 1898 1,006,118 Napier Oct. 1'7, 1911 1,093,196Lombardi Apr. 14, 1914 1,723,213 Smith Aug. 6, 1929 2,021,815 StroutNov. 19, 19 5 2,226,911 Romano -1--- Dec. 31, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS-umber Country Date 746 Great Britain 1903

